Back on Christmas Day Tatjana Voloder and her family were in the airport baggage claim, where they had lived for more than a week. But then they mysteriously disappeared - for days. Until Sunday.
We caught up with Voloder at a Walgreens drug store near the airport. Several viewers called our newsroom saying she was there.
Voloder said she left the airport because of illness. "I'm so sick, my mom's sick too, and my son he's not ok too," she said.
It was Christmas day when we first found the family living in the baggage area at Mitchell International. She said the family had been there for 8 days. They claimed they lost their tickets to Kansas City.
Voloder now says she is not trying to get to Kansas City. "No, I will stay here, because I have a chance for this apartment."
Now the Bosnian family says they are living at a hotel near the airport - although we couldn't confirm that.
But an airport employee said as of Sunday morning the family was still living in the baggage claim area.
If true, that's illegal. The sheriff's department doesn't want them at the airport and has offered to take the family to a shelter.
A shelter has to be more comfortable than the airport. I don't know why the family is resisting.
I also don't know why this is being tolerated.
Authorities can't force the family into a shelter, but they can keep them from living in the airport.
Perhaps Gov. Jim Doyle could get involved. He wants to help immigrants. Give the Bosnian family in-state tuition at UW-Madison and let them live in a dorm.
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